I was pleased to send a welcome message at the opening of the NBR – ASE annual conference, a natural tandem of academic collaboration, based on professional solidarity and the ambitions of the economist profession. In my message at the conference, I launched some ideas about the increased importance that the Romanian school of economics should acquire, insisting on the idea that economists need to have a much more active role in decisions and Romania’s development.
I included several key messages in my opening remarks:
Romania must rely on a strong school of economics, which means more than the training of specialists in various fields: accounting, finance, tourism. I am referring to the skills of the business economist, but especially to the vision necessary for the public policy economist.
Business economists, but also public policy economists, face serious challenges, commensurate with the vulnerabilities in the economy. For example, in terms of sources of financing for companies, in Romania, the use of commercial credit is the highest among all EU countries, namely 17% of liabilities. For comparison, bank credit holds a share of only 9% in the liabilities of companies.
If the economic school of business adapts more easily, under the pressure of market forces and new technologies, the economic school of public policies has a harder time structuring its product, and I would say that it is much more discreet in terms of presence in the economic debate.
The economic school of public policy must respond to the existing challenges at macroeconomic and sectoral level. Romania is facing major economic imbalances, fueled mainly by domestic procyclical policies, not by exogenous shocks.
In recent years, Romania’s economic problem is the burden of twin deficits, which have deepened against the backdrop of budgetary policies that are contrary to economic responsibility. Thus, public debt has registered the fastest growth in the European Union.
The economics school of public policy acquires a key role, and the economists who underpin economic policy decisions have an essential professional responsibility.
Economic policies can also lead us in the wrong directions, the correction of which will require effort and cost for years or decades. Currently, severe geopolitical tensions, the weakening of commercial freedom and institutional order can push us into traps that are difficult to fix.
Here is the full message delivered at the opening of the NBR – ASE 2026 conference:
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